Image forming apparatus having a developer collecting duct

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes: a developer collecting duct that is linear and has a plurality of coupling portions vertically spaced apart from each other; and a plurality of developer discharging sections that each have an engaging portion inserted into one of the coupling portions to thereby be disposed as being exposed to the inside of the developer collecting duct, and that discharge waste developer to the developer collecting duct through a developer outlet provided in the engaging portion. Second and subsequent ones of the developer discharging sections from the top are detachably attached to the developer collecting duct. The developer collecting duct has a flow path restricting portion that restricts the area through which the waste developer flows down to prevent the waste developer from hitting the engaging portion of lower one of the developer discharging sections.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
 a developer collecting duct that is linear and has a plurality of coupling portions vertically spaced apart from each other; and 
 a plurality of developer discharging sections that each have an engaging portion inserted into one of the coupling portions to thereby be disposed as being exposed to the inside of the developer collecting duct, and that discharge waste developer to the developer collecting duct through a developer outlet provided in the engaging portion, wherein 
 second and subsequent ones of the developer discharging sections from the top are detachably attached to the developer collecting duct, and 
 the developer collecting duct has a main flow path that each of the developer outlets face, and through which the waste developer flows down, and a sloped portion or a hood portion that guides the waste developer to the main flow path and prevents the waste developer from hitting the engaging portion of a lower one of the developer discharging sections. 
 
     
     
       2. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the sloped portion or the hood portion completely covers the upper surface of the engaging portion of the lower one of the developer discharging sections. 
 
     
     
       3. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the sloped portion or the hood portion is formed by the shape of an intermediate duct provided between two adjacent upper and lower ones of the coupling portions. 
 
     
     
       4. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 part or all of the intermediate duct is sloped so that a lower part of the intermediate duct has a narrower width than an upper part thereof. 
 
     
     
       5. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the hood portion projects inside an intermediate duct provided between two adjacent upper and lower ones of the coupling portions. 
 
     
     
       6. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each developer discharging section is a developing device that performs development by attaching toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor drum. 
 
     
     
       7. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each developer discharging section is a cleaning device that cleans toner remaining on a photoconductor drum.